• "Rogation Sunday Links Prayer and Good Works"
• Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Easter
• May 16, 2004
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

Today is called Rogation Sunday after a Latin word which means "to ask," or "to pray." Along with today, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week have historically been observed as special days of prayer. The tradition was to have a Rogation procession around the town to offer up intercessions, especially for a successful harvest.

The epistle and gospel for Rogation Sunday each focus on a different theme: the gospel on prayer and the epistle on works. In the gospel (John 16:23ff.) Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." The epistle (James 1:22ff.) says, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only."

Sometimes these two themes appear to be in conflict. There are Christians who tend to focus more on the command to pray and there are Christians who focus more on the command to do what God says. Those who focus more on prayer tend to criticize the doers as busybodies and Marthas. Those who focus on doing tend to criticize those who pray as lazy and unmotivated.

One of our members illustrates the latter with the story of farmer Jones, whose field was ripe for the harvest. A friend said to him, "Farmer Jones, this is a beautiful field that you and the Lord have." Farmer Jones replied, "You should have seen it when the Lord had it all by himself."

Of course, there is no real conflict between praying and doing. The apparent conflicts result from errors in individual lives. Some people use prayer as an escape from the their responsibility to work. And some people are very busy with various labors but have no sense of a life lived in communion with the Father through the Son in the Spirit.

Prayer and Good Works are both essential to the Christian life; but there is a right ordering of the two: praying precedes doing and right action is the natural consequence of prayer. We can observe this pattern in the Bible. The ministry of Jesus began at his baptism in the Jordan River (Mt. 4)-essentially with prayer. Jesus arose from the waters of baptism and began to carry out his active ministry-which involved much labor.

The ministry of the early church began with prayer. For the nine days from Ascension Day until Pentecost, the church gathered for prayer in the upper room. Then, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the first believers. Led by the Spirit, they went out to do ministry. The book that chronicles their ministry is called, The Acts of the Apostles.

The Christian life follows this pattern. It begins, sacramentally, in the water of baptism and with the laying on of the Bishop's hands in confirmation. That is, it begins with the gift of the Spirit given in response to prayer. Without the gift of the Spirit received through prayer, it is impossible to do the things that God calls us to do.

We gather around the altar of God on Sunday, the first day of the week, to renew our baptismal identity, to experience again communion with the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Then, and only then, are we prepared to "do all such good works as [God] has prepared for us to walk in." Daily prayer continues this pattern. We begin the day with prayer in order that the labor of the day might be guided by the Holy Spirit. We pray throughout the day, at significant moments of transition, so that each new action might be the fruit of the Spirit.

Through prayer, we confess the sins that are a barrier to communion with God. Through prayer, we experience forgiveness and grace. Through prayer, we ask God for guidance and wisdom and we learn to listen for his voice in response. Prayer enables us to see life from God's perspective. Prayer raises us from our natural fallen state into the realm of grace in which the will of God is the natural thing to do.

Activity apart from prayer tends to be inefficient. We may do a lot of things and be very busy, but we will tend to spend too much labor on things that are not very important eternally and spend too little effort on things that really matter. And we will tend to get exhausted and frustrated to boot-feeling over labored and under appreciated.

Mother Theresa once said, "If I did not pray three hours a day, I would never get anything done." Faithfulness in the life of prayer actually leads us to be effective in the things we do. For when we live in prayerful communion with God, the Holy Spirit directs us to the things that really need doing and helps avoid the spinning of wheels that characterizes so much worldly activity.

Thus, Rogation Sunday links Prayer and Good Works. "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" that ye may "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only."